Chasing The Moon

Chapter 5

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Sleep. I need it.

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I fell asleep after crying, too tired to hold my eyes open. Crying always wore me down. When I woke up it was snowing outside. I used to love the snow, but now I'm so small that it's freezing. I made sure to get dressed in the warmest clothes I could find and headed out for school. I was in two jackets, gloves, and a scarf. Even though I was covered in layers, I was still shivering underneath. My nose and cheeks were a dark red from the cold brushing against them. Next time I'll bring a thicker scarf. Unexpectedly, I ran into Tsukki, he was just as wrapped up as I was.

"Hey, T-Tsukki!" I shouted and waved at him. He stopped and waited for me as I ran up to him.

"Hey, Yamaguchi," he said quietly. It looked as if he wasn't as affected by the cold as I was, he didn't even have gloves on. "Are you really that cold, its barely under 40 degrees? (4.44 celsius)" Was it really? I thought it was much colder than that.

"Ah...I guess I'm just cold Tsukki," I said with a smile, but it left my face when I looked down. How lame. I can barely even take the cold. Tsukki started walking again and I walked two steps behind him.

A long time had passed. I hadn't noticed until after a while, but I realized we should have been at school by now. We had been walking for so long and had passed our school. It was way back behind us now. "T-Tsukki...we missed school..." I nudged his arm and he looked down at me. The cold made his cheeks and nose a hint of pink on his already pale face. I don't think he has ever looked this cute before. Well, no, he was cute as a kid, but now he's blindingly handsome.

"We're not going to school. There's somewhere I wanna go before the morning is over," he said and continued walking on. I stared at him in confusion. Tsukki had never done this before. Where were we going? He led me on a walk for another 30 minutes before arriving where the destination was. The pathway was magestic, filled with the most attractive blossoms and bouquets, stretching along the sides. Sometimes I'd stop to smell them, the mix of the crisp winter cold and fragrance of each flower filled my nose every time. The walkway led us on until eventually we got to our final stop.

It was beautiful. I had never been to the Shinobazu Pond before, but it was absolutely stunning. It haden't frozen over yet, meaning the lotus flowers on top were still in bloom. It was only 8:30 am, meaning they were still in their best form. I understood what he meant when he said he didn't wanna miss it before the morning was over. I ran up to the pond to admire it some more, Tsukki sat down on the grass and pulling out his headphones to listen to music. I giggled and ran along the edge, watching the fish dive in and out of the water, the flowers were flowing slowly around each other, as if they were dancing to their own music. At one point, I saw a lotus that was the prettiest one, it was big and dark pink, darker than the others. But it was too far to reach. I wanted to give it to Tsukki more than anything, so I did my best to reach it.

I stretched my arm out, sitting on my knees, chest and body shakily balancing over the waters top. My finger tips had just barely skimmed over the flower before I fell in, feeling the freezing cold water against my skin. I stood up quickly and gasped, running out of the water with my arms wrapped around me. I looked over and Tsukki was dying in laughter. I flushed with embarrassment and made a pouty face, staying exactly where I was. I watched him get up and stand in front of me, still trying to hold in his chuckles.

"You're an idiot, what were you trying to do?" he snickerd out, and I refused to answer, staring up at him, shivering. I couldn't tell him I failed miserably in trying to do something romantic. I looked back at the flower, which was now drifting out of sight, too far to reach now. I wanted to cry, it was cold and I couldn't even do this simple task. The tears were brimming on my eyes, when I saw Tsukki unzipping his jacket to take it off. He reached over and wrapped it around my shoulders, I looked up at him in amazement.